Al Attles, a Hall of Famer who coached the 1975 NBA champions Warriors and served the organization for more than six decades as a player, general manager and most recently as a team ambassador, has died.

He was 87 years old. The Warriors announced on Wednesday that Attles died on Tuesday at his home in East Bay surrounded by his family.

Nicknamed “The Destroyer” for his physical style of play, after being selected in the fifth round of the 1960 draft, the Warriors became his love and only team, the longest time a person has spent with a single franchise in league history.

Attles was one of the NBA’s first black head coaches and witnessed some of the greatest games of various eras. On March 2, 1962, he played in Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game for the Philadelphia Warriors in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Attles converted all eight of his field goal attempts and scored 17 points.

He also coached Hall of Famer Rick Barry the day he scored 64 points against Portland on March 26, 1974, and then watched Klay Thompson score 60 points in three quarters in December 2016.

“I am saddened today by the loss of my mentor and friend. Al was my roommate during my rookie season in the league. He taught me valuable lessons about being a professional that cannot be learned on the field,” Barry said in a statement released by the Warriors. “Later, as our coach during the 1975 championship season, he exemplified the leadership, unity and keen strategic skills that enabled us to succeed at the highest level.”

This is another heartbreaking blow to the Bay Area sports community following the recent deaths of Giants Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda.

Attles coached the Warriors to their first championship since moving west in 1975. Forty years later, in 2015, Golden State finally won again. His 557 wins as a coach are the most in franchise history.

Attles never compared all the great achievements that he loved to witness up close. Different basketball eras, different challenges. So many special milestones that are worth celebrating and honoring, he emphasized.

“I saw a 100-point game,” Attles said from his seat during a late timeout on Thompson’s big night. “Rick was such a great player and he was all about winning. To score as many points as he did, you need the help of your teammates. I try to look at them individually because once you start comparing, there’s always going to be one No. 2. Let’s give him credit.”

Attles joked that he threw passes to Chamberlain for all those points. In fact, he had six assists, while Guy Rodgers had 20 of the team’s 39 assists in the 169-147 win over the Knicks.

“I think 50,” Attles said with a chuckle about his total assists in that record game. “I don’t know. And you know what? We won the game. That’s all that matters.”

“Because I played with Wilt, people always ask, ‘What do you think about Wilt scoring 100?’ I say, ‘Give him credit for what he did back then.’ It’s like apples and oranges. They’re both good fruit. It’s a matter of what you like. I was very close to Wilt, but you have to enjoy what they did that night. I’m happy for any great performance.”

As a player, Attles averaged 8.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 11 seasons with the Warriors.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame honored him with the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.

In the months leading up to his induction into the Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2019, Attles remained his usual humble self, preferring to dish out compliments rather than recognition for his own accomplishments.

“You made a mistake,” Attles joked with a wide grin, still showing off his quick wit. “You haven’t caught up with me yet.”

Warriors coach Steve Kerr had long been known for his stylish suits on the sidelines and later even as a spectator in the stands, and once paid tribute to Attles by wearing one of those suits.

“He’s the face of the franchise,” Kerr said. “He’s been that way for 60 years, so he has an incredible presence.”

After missing most of the 2018-19 season – his smiling face a reliable fixture at the team’s former Oracle Arena – Attles returned to cheers and fanfare for Game 4 of the 2019 NBA Finals against Toronto.

It wasn’t the same when Attles was gone.

Former center Clifford Ray viewed Attles as a “father figure to all of us,” noting that black NBA players often felt more comfortable learning from the coach because of their similar cultural backgrounds.

“He made everything simple and simplified,” Ray said. “He also didn’t burden us with a lot of technical stuff and paperwork. It was very structured. We knew what we were doing.”

Attles was born on November 7, 1936, in Newark, New Jersey. He was one of the recipients of the 2017 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Basketball Coaches Association and was also inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1993.

“Alvin’s name has become synonymous with the Warriors franchise after dedicating his entire adult life to our organization, beginning with our final seasons in Philadelphia,” Warriors owner Joe Lacob said in announcing Attles’ Hall of Fame induction. “He has thrived in every role and responsibility over the past 60 years, from player to coach to general manager and most recently as ambassador. And he has done it with incredible class and humility.”